I had one of my hives issue a late swarm this afternoon.My wife came in
to tell me she thought they were swarming.I went out & sure enough they were.
They laned in a small maple in my yard.The wife asked if I would
recapture them and I said no, I figured I'd let them go since it was so
late in the year and, to the best of my knowledge, feral swarms
hereabouts are extinct.Of course, as we looked at the swarm, she kept
marveling at its size.It WAS a good sized one, I'd guess about 8 lbs.
Anyhow, she kept on until I finally figured, why let them fly off &
starve, so I hived them.It was such a swarm they overfilled a ready hive.
I ended up puting a hive body full of capped honey on them.I figure that
may hold them if the winter is'nt TOO bad.I could have let them go, but
it was against the bee-keeper in me.I also have hope my hives will be
mite free next year since,as far as I know, they were'nt exposed to mites
and they arrived last spring mite-free.Time will tell....
                     ML High
 
"I take my chances,I don't mind working without a net,                           I take my chances,I take my chances every chance I get"                                   Mary Chapin Carpenter